There is no difference in the way a mother feels about her pregnant self, her birth, and the unrequited love for her newborn -- wherever she lives in this world. In this universal oneness, we are all connected.
In the United States, we can practically start planning our kids' birthdays from the day they come home from the hospital; deaths in childhood are quite rare. In Ghana, though, you can't take a child's fifth birthday for granted.
Tirades are, by their very nature, apt to gain a lot of attention and "go viral." They are dramatic. They are extreme, provocative, and full of intrigue. Hype sells. Unfortunately, much of the time -- it is wrong.
World Immunization Week is a call to action but for me, as a pediatrician and a mom, it also serves as a reminder of how lucky we, as Americans, are to have access to critical preventative vaccines.
Why would Mr. Trump do this? Why would he carelessly extend a wildly unpopular theory amongst researchers to a public that may not be aware of the actual science and decade-plus amount of work that have gone into discrediting the link between vaccines and autism?
Likewise, as one of only three remaining countries in the world with endemic polio transmission, they have recently ramped up efforts to eradicate polio from the country, and thereby, help rid it from the entire world.
It turns out that the presidential campaign staffers have it completely, one hundred and eighty degrees wrong when it comes to science. Overwhelming majorities of American voters want the candidates to debate the big science issues facing the country.
If measles does make a meaningful comeback, it would imply public health is sliding back as we head into the future. We don't want to go there.
The California legislature is considering a bill that would require parents to obtain their doctor's signature prior to enrollment in public school if they wish to skip vaccines for their child. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Access means that there is a tap nearby that people could use. Functionality means that water actually flows from that tap. Far too often the tap does not produce water, so it is therefore not effective at what the Millennium Development Goal is really trying to do -- eradicate water poverty.
It is outrageous to me that Somali women accept that their baby could die at anytime, yet educated American parents willingly put their own children's lives in danger based on Internet rumors.
I go to India at least once a year to see the progress of the work our foundation is doing there and I'm always struck by two things -- the dynamism of the place, and the tremendous need. Unfortunately, the former doesn't cancel the latter out.
I asked some of the people who've influenced my thinking about autism to collaborate on a virtual roundtable. This conversation, which took place before the Times story on the DSM, is open-ended and free-ranging. The participants, in alphabetical order:
Latinas have the highest cervical cancer rates in the country and the third highest death rate from cervical cancer.
Cancer is the most dreaded of all diseases, and ever since a "war on cancer" was declared 40 years ago, massive research has made progress, although the battle is far from won.
For me, this isn't about fighting. I'm not on a pro-vaccine crusade. My only crusade as a pediatrician is to keep my patients healthy -- and vaccines are part of what I use to do just that.
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